THE RULE is simple: Wear IDs on campus. But students, time and again, are finding (if not, repeating) 1, 001 reasons to avoid it. Even with the introduction of colorful lanyards, there are still not a few like Marlon Castaño of the College of Commerce who find it “uncool” to wear IDs. He believes IDs ruin his get-up, finds it necessary to wear one only when he has to get inside a building and attend classes.
“I feel like I’m a high school student when I wear it. Pangsira siya ng porma,” he said.
Computer Science sophomore Hiro James Elizaga doesn’t wear his ID to save himself from an embarrassing “blast from the past.”
“I wasn’t able to have my haircut before the ID picture was taken so I didn’t look okay,” he explained.
By the rules
While students are constantly reminded that wearing the gold plastic card is obligatory, many students take it for granted.
According to the Code of Conduct and Discipline (PPS 1027), “students must wear their validated University identification card (ID) at all times within the University premises.”
Noting the importance of wearing ID at all times, Susan Maravilla, assistant dean and Student Welfare and Development Board (SWDB) coordinator of the College of Nursing, said an ID holds a legitimate piece of information that enables someone to identify you.
“Wearing IDs is for the students’ own safety. If not for IDs, anyone can come inside the college building and pretend to be a student of the University,” she said.
Echoing Maravilla is College of Music SWDB Coordinator Allan Pastrana, who said that students saw the policy as an empty rule.
“But if you just dig deeper, IDs serve as the students’ bondage with the University,” he noted.
Pastrana explained that students who didn’t wear their IDs probably wanted to be “different.”
Following norms
Josephine Placido-Aguilar, sociology professor of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, said that it was typical for the young wanting to look and feel they were different from others.
“In our society, you can never please everybody. They have reasons why they want to be different, and we must respect that,” she added.
Despite this, Aguilar still argued on the importance of wearing their IDs inside the building’s premises.
“Whether you look like a monster or not in your ID, it still has to be worn. Because the ID is still part of the uniform, and the uniform is part of the institution,” she said. “In general terms, it is one of the major norms set by the institution—so it has to be followed because you are moving within the norm.”
But there are students like Shawn Kylie Juan of the College of Science, who feel better when they have their IDs on.
“I always wear it because it would be a hassle if you take it off and put it back on again, unlike when you’re just wearing it, all you have to do is swipe,” he said.
Seeing the act as a way to live by UST’s reputation as a Catholic institution, behavioral science senior Mark Anthony Abisado, takes pleasure in simply abiding by the roles.
“Being a part of the Catholic institution portrays students who are molded spiritually and always observes right conduct. A good way of showing this is to simply follow the rules set,” he said.
Pastrana said that going by this policy showed willingness to be a part of this entire institution, or in a larger context, the culture in itself.
“If students have a strong regard for their Thomasian identity, wearing their IDs would not be a problem at all,” Pastrana said. Alma Maria L. Sarmiento
